Roof anchor



Feb. 14, 1967 E. c. HAWKINS 3,303,523

ROOF ANCHOR Filed Oct. 5, 1963 United States Patent The present invention relates to a roof anchor and is an improvement of the roof anchors shown in my Patent No. 2,993,571 granted July 25, 1961.

The object of my invention is to provide a roof anchor of the type described in the aforesaid patent which is constructed in such a manner as to permit the stacking of the roofing panels one over the other, for convenience in trucking, or in storage on the job.

My aforesaid earlier patent showed a type of bracket which has a substantial dimension in the depth direction, the bracket thus interfering with stacking.

According to my present invention, I provide a shallow bracket which is secured to the underside of a sheet metal roofing panel and which overlies an opening formed in the sheeting strips, in combination with a tension lug which has one portion interlocking with the aforesaid bracket, and which has another portion which extends through the opening and has means for engaging the lower surface thereof.

With reference now to the drawings in which like reference numerals designate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a piece of corrugated sheet metal roofing having secured thereto shallow brackets in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section through a roof structure illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section similar to FIG. 2 but showing my invention as applied to a coplanar sheet metal roofing panel;

FIG. 5 is a section taken along line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the flat roofing panel and the brackets shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the tension lug shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, there is shown a corrugated sheet metal roofing panel 10 which form a part of a roof structure comprising rafters 11, and transverse sheathing strips 12. The corrugated panel 10 has welded thereto at spaced intervals a bracket 13 in the form of a single plate, the ends of which are welded to the walls of a corrugation 15. The bracket or plate 13 subtends an arc of substantially 90 of the corrugation 15, and, as such, is located within substantially the upper third of the corrugation 15, as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, when the panels 10 are stacked one above the other, the corrugations of the adjacent panels will interlock with each other. The over all thickness of the stack will be only about twice the thickness of a stack of panels which are not provided with a corrugation, and only about a third of the thickness of a stack of panels according to my previous invention.

The sheathing strips 12 are provided with holes 16 which underlie the bracket 13; a tension lug 17 having an interlocking hook portion 18, and a depending loop portion 20 extends from the bracket 23 downwardly below the surface of the sheathing 12. A wedge-shaped key 21 is received within the loop portion 20 and urges the panel tightly against the sheathing strips 12. Thus the roofing panel 10 is securely anchored in place, by means which do not prevent stacking of the panels.

In the modification of FIGS. 4 to 7 the roofing structure comprises a fiat roofing panel 24, rafters 25, and sheathing strips 26, and the latter may be either transversely oriented as in the case of FIG. 2, or longitudinally oriented as shown in FIG. 5.

A shallow bracket 27 is welded to the under surface of the roofing panel 24, the bracket being U-shaped, and projecting away from the undersurface of the panel by about one-quarter inch, the depth of the bracket being considerably less than one-half of its length. Thus, the U-shaped bracket 27 is relatively rigid and will not be deformed when fifteen or twenty sheets are stacked one above the other.

As in the case of FIGS. 2 and 3, the roofing panels are secured to the roof structure by a tension lug 28 having a hook portion 29 and a loop portion 30, a wedgeshaped key 31 interlocking with the loop portion 30 to draw the roof panel 24 tightly against the sheathing strips 26.

The tension lugs 17 and 28 may be .formed of steel strip which is sufiiciently rigid as to withstand the forces applied thereto In either event the height of the stack may be reduced by stacking the panel in such a manner that the bracket side of one faces the bracket side of an adjacent panel.

Although only preferred embodiments of my invention are shown and described herein it will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the constructions shown without departing from the scope of my invention as pointed out by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Roof anchor means in combination with a sheet metal roofing panel and sheathing strips, said anchor means comprising a shallow bracket secured to the underside of said panel and overlying an opening formed in said sheathing strips, a tension lug having a hook portion interlocking with said shallow bracket and having a loop portion extending through said opening and beyond the lower surface of said sheathing strips, a wedgeshaped key extending through said loop portion and reacting against the under surface of said sheathing strips, said roofing panel being corrugated, and said bracket being a single plate connecting the opposite walls of a corrugation of said roofing panel and subtending an arc of substantially 90.

2. Roof anchor means in combination with a sheet metal roofing panel and sheathing strips, said anchor means comprising a shallow bracket secured to the underside of said panel and overlying an opening formed in said sheathing strips, a tension lug having a hook portion interlocking with said shallow bracket and having a loop portion extending through said opening and beyond the lower surface of said sheathing strips, a wedgeshaped key extending through said loop portion and re acting against the under surface of said sheathing strips, said roofing panel being corrugated and said bracket being a fiat plate secured at its ends to the opposite walls of a downwardly facing corrugation of said roofing panel, and located within the upper third of said corrugation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 922,919 5/1909 Lawrence 287-54 1,815,098 7/1931 Earhart -7 2,993,571 7/1961 Hawkins 52-550 X FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

R. S. VERMUT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. ROOF ANCHOR MEANS IN COMBINATION WITH A SHEET METAL ROOFING PANEL AND SHEATHING STRIPS, SAID ANCHOR MEANS COMPRISING A SHALLOW BRACKET SECURED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID PANEL AND OVERLYING AN OPENING FORMED IN SAID SHEATHING STRIPS, A TENSION LUG HAVING A HOOK PORTION INTERLOCKING WITH SAID SHALLOW BRACKET AND HAVING A LOOP PORTION EXTENDING THROUGH SAID OPENING AND BEYOND THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID SHEATHING STRIPS, A WEDGESHAPED KEY EXTENDING THROUGH SAID LOOP PORTION AND REACTING AGAINST THE UNDER SURFACE OF SAID SHEATHING STRIPS, SAID ROOFING PANEL BEING CORRUGATED, AND SAID BRACKET BEING A SINGLE PLATE CONNECTING THE OPPOSITE WALLS OF A CORRUGATION OF SAID ROOFING PANEL AND SUBTENDING AN ARC OF SUBSTANTIALLY 90*. 